University of Hartford catcher Erik Ostberg lost the majority of his 2017 season to a knee injury, bringing a sudden end to a campaign in which he led the nation in a handful of offensive categories. Now, days before the Major League Baseball draft, Ostberg sat down with HartfordHawks.com to discuss his injury, his comeback, and his future.
 

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He didn't hear a pop — that was a good thing — but the shooting pain in Erik Ostberg's right knee still gave him cause for concern.
 
Ostberg, a junior, was in the middle of a dream season with the University of Hartford baseball team. In his first year starting behind the plate he had already established himself as the best catcher in the America East Conference and was quickly garnering national attention for his gaudy statistics.
 
Through the first six weeks of the season, Ostberg led the nation in batting average (.500), on-base percentage (.596) and OPS (1.456). By comparison, David Ortiz led all of Major League Baseball in 2016 with an OPS of 1.021. He wasn't just the top catcher; Ostberg was the hottest hitter in all of Division I at the midpoint of the season.
 

That was before Sunday, April 9, though.
 
The Hawks were wrapping up a three-game set at Maine, having dropped both ends of Saturday's doubleheader. Leading 5-1 in the sixth inning of Sunday's finale, Ostberg lined a two-out double to right field, picking up his team-best 23rd RBI in the process. With Ostberg on second, center fielder Ashton Bardzell connected for a single to right and Ostberg, running on contact, rounded third and headed for home.
 
Why wouldn't he? With five steals on six attempts Ostberg was a proven threat on the base paths. He got a good jump on the ball and easily had the speed to score from second. But this play was different. Bardzell, who finished the season with a team-best nine home runs, had ripped his single right at Maine right fielder Tyler Schwanz, an All-Conference Second-Teamer who led the Black Bears' outfielders with 12 assists this past season.
 
Schwanz fielded the ball cleanly and, seeing Ostberg rounding third, tried to cut him down at the plate. The throw pulled Maine catcher Christopher Bec towards the first base line, giving Ostberg a big enough window to attempt a hook slide.
 
Ostberg scored, putting the Hawks ahead 6-1, but the price for the run was a steep one: It cost him the remainder of the 2017 season.
 
THE PLAY
 
"As I'm going into the slide and reaching towards the plate with my left hand, I felt my knee hit a small lip in the turf," Ostberg recalled. "Maine had replaced the turf in the batter's box in some fashion, but it left ridges in some spots where the turf overlapped. My knee hit one of those spots and I immediately felt this shooting pain go down my calf.
 
"It was like hitting a wall, but my momentum pushed me over and I slid in. It felt like I had hit my funny bone in my knee, but worse. I was weak. I tried to jog off but I knew right away that I couldn't."

From his vantage point in the third base coach's box, Hartford head coach Justin Blood wasn't sure of the extent of the damage. There were still two outs in the inning, so Blood was unable to check on Ostberg until the final out had been recorded.
 
"The way that he got up and limped off into the on-deck area was concerning, to say the least," Blood said. "But we were still in the inning and I needed to maintain focus on what we were doing. By the time I got into the dugout Erik had already put his gear on and said he was ready to go back out and catch, but coach [Steve] Malinowski watched the first two or three warm-up pitches and said that he just wasn't right. That's when we made the change."
 
WAITING GAME
 
Ostberg wouldn't catch another pitch for the Hawks. He was diagnosed with a Grade 2 Strain (a strain, by definition, is a tear) of the PCL in his right knee and his estimated recovery time was six to eight weeks. Six weeks would take Ostberg to May 2, with the America East Tournament scheduled to begin on May 24.
 
Ostberg was determined, though.
 
"The rehab was really tough at the beginning," Ostberg said. "Our trainer, Meg Bosworth, and I worked really hard and started small, not using any weights or anything. I couldn't even bend my knee 60 degrees, so we worked on increasing my range of motion but I had no idea when I was going to be able to lift or hit, let alone when I'd be able to catch again."
 

It was an excruciating process, testing the patience of Ostberg who had previously listed "bumps and bruises" among his worst career injuries. During his rehab Ostberg's progress ebbed and flowed, causing his emotions to fluctuate between optimism and despair, but he never lost sight of his goal to return to the field.
 
He was eventually cleared to return to baseball activities and approved to return in a hitting-only capacity just before the conference tournament, but Ostberg hadn't faced live pitching in more than a month and still suffered from limited mobility.
 
Ostberg, once the best hitter in the country, was conflicted. He was caught between his desire to return and help his team, and the fear of further damaging his knee just weeks before he was projected as a potential early-round pick in the upcoming MLB Draft.

Sensing the conflict, Blood did what so many opposing pitchers had done to Ostberg during the season and simply took the bat out of his hands.
 
"At the end of the day I think he felt guilty because he wanted to be there and help us," Blood said. "That tells you a lot about the kid. As we got closer and we watched him doing his rehab on the field we could tell that he was improving, but he wasn't 100 percent. And as an entire coaching staff we didn't feel comfortable putting him out there if he wasn't 100 percent.
 
"We didn't put him on our championship roster because we didn't want that pressure of having him available and needing to decide if we would use him. There were times when we really could have used a swing from him in the tournament, but it wasn't worth the risk."
 
PROVING GROUND
 
As a sophomore Ostberg started 46 games at designated hitter, batting .340 while ranking third on the team in hits (67), fourth in runs (42) and second in RBI (47). He only made eight starts at catcher. But when Ostberg took over as the Hawks' full-time starter this spring he quickly dispelled any questions as to whether he could handle the responsibility of being Hartford's everyday catcher.
 
He began the season with a 13-game hitting streak, including eight multi-hit games, and connected for a towering home run (his third of the season) off Arizona ace JC Cloney when Hartford traveled to face the No. 9 Wildcats. Ostberg's homer ended a 22-inning scoreless streak for Cloney.

"Watching Erik at the beginning of this year was pretty remarkable," Blood said. "It was must-see: Everybody wanted to see what he was going to do next. That home run he hit off Cloney in Arizona? The kid hadn't given up a run all year.
 
"And it kept going from there. I'd never seen a kid get intentionally walked during midweek games before, but there was Erik, getting walked in the fifth inning. People were pitching around him in the middle of the game — and we hadn't even reached the halfway point of the season yet."
 
Hartford played 50 games in 2017, with Ostberg making 24 starts. He finished the season with only 86 at-bats, but Ostberg made the most of them. Hitting exclusively in the No. 3 spot in the Hawks' lineup, he racked up 43 hits, 30 runs, 11 doubles, six home runs and 23 RBI.
 
But ask Ostberg about his greatest accomplishment this spring and he'll tell you that it didn't come with a bat in his hands. Ostberg wasn't surprised by his offensive success — he knew he could hit at the Division I level heading into this year's campaign — what he was more concerned about was proving to scouts that he was capable of handling a pitching staff.

"The questions surrounding me have always been about my defense," Ostberg said. "I started catching late [in my career] and had a lot to improve on defensively when I got to Hartford. Pitchers didn't used to want to throw to me when I was younger, but I became the No. 1 option to throw to, which is big. I showed toughness and grinded through a lot of long innings. I felt like I had an impact on the pitchers and that they enjoyed throwing to me more in the past.
 
"When pitchers are comfortable, they feel like they can give you their best stuff. I blocked my butt off behind the plate and made a lot of good throws. I think I had a really good presence back there. I'm extremely satisfied and happy with what I did."
 
ON THE BRINK
 
Ostberg is still a Hawk, but there's a good chance that changes in the coming days. The Major League Baseball draft will begin on Monday, June 12 and Ostberg has been projected as high as a Day 2 pick. He's ranked No. 195 overall by Baseball America and No. 6 among New England prospects by the New England Baseball Journal.  Since this past winter, he has personally worked out for 13 teams and had contact with 28 of MLB's 30 clubs. In spite of his injury Ostberg remains one of college baseball's best catching talents and is on the verge of achieving his childhood dream.
 
"I haven't been able to sleep much," Ostberg said. "I'm so excited about what is going to happen next, even though it's a little unsettling to have no idea what is coming. I've been preparing for this my whole life and now the draft is finally here, but it's all so random.
 
"There's nothing else I can do at this point. Whoever is making the decision [about me], the decision is already more or less made. It's a surreal feeling for me."
 
Ostberg plans to watch the draft, which will be broadcast on MLB Network and streamed live on MLB.com, at home with family and friends. Thankful for his opportunity and hopeful for his future, Ostberg is focused on looking ahead rather than dwelling on what his lost 2017 season could have been.
 
"Sure it's a little upsetting, because I'll never know what would have happened," Ostberg said. "But I know it could have been so much worse for me. I'm proud to say that I was leading the country in hitting when I got hurt. I could have been hitting .250 when I got hurt and then I wouldn't be in such a good position right now.
 
"I had 86 at-bats and I did what I could. It's impossible to say how the rest of the season would've played out, but I know that I did what I did against some of the toughest competition that we faced this year. The only thing I can do now is do it in pro ball and try to have that same impact."

 


The MLB draft will begin on Monday, June 12, at 7 p.m. with the first two rounds broadcast on MLB Network and MLB.com. Rounds 3-10 will be held on Tuesday, June 13, beginning at 12:30, and the final rounds of the draft will conclude on Wednesday, beginning at noon. Days two and three of the draft will be streamed live on MLB.com.

If selected, Ostberg would become the 16th Hawk to be chosen in the MLB draft. Left-handed pitcher Sean Newcomb became the first Hartford player to be selected in the first round when he went No. 15 overall to the Los Angeles Angels in the 2014 draft. MLB Hall-of-Famer Jeff Bagwell is the highest position player to be selected in Hartford history having gone in the fourth round (No. 110) to the Boston Red Sox, in 1989.


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